Wei Luo took the children to visit the market for a day and came back at dusk.
When Yin Hui came to the front yard, she saw Chang Feng holding a stack of large and small boxes in his arms.
The corners of Yin Hui’s lips turned up, and she looked at Wei Luo with a hint of meaning.
Wei Luo asked her, “Are you feeling better?”
Yin Hui knew that he had seen through her tricks.
So what if he saw through it, raising a child was not simply a matter of reasoning. She wanted Wei Luo to experience the difficulty of raising the children.
His heart was hard enough, so why would he allow the children to buy so many things?
“Show me what you bought.”
Out of curiosity, Yin Hui asked Chang Feng to carry the things to the hall and put them on the table. Yin Hui opened them one by one and looked at them.
After opening one, she actually saw a box of rouge.
Wei Luo was drinking tea over there, without any explanation, Xiao Heng said, “Mother, my sister picked this for you.”
Yin Hui’s heart melted immediately, and she hugged Ning and kissed her.
Wei Luo glanced at the mother and daughter.
The Yin family had a rouge store in Pingcheng, which was also the most famous rouge store in Pingcheng. The rouge Yin Hui used was specially provided by the Yin family, and it had not changed in Jinling. When passing by the rouge store in the daytime, Xiao Ning insisted on going in. He explained but she didn’t listen. She was usually so cute, but she was so stubborn that she refused to leave. Afterward, Xiao Ning picked out the box herself.
Yin Hui continued to disassemble and saw the inkstone that Xiao Heng liked.
She was a knowledgeable person, so she looked at Wei Luo in shock.
Wei Luo drank tea silently.
Yin Hui didn’t say anything; she really wanted to tease him, and it would be more appropriate to save it for the night.
After checking everything, Yin Hui found that Xiao Ning bought the most things, followed by Xiao Xun, and Xiao Heng bought the least, but in terms of the starting price, Xiao Heng’s inkstone was the most expensive.
The family washed their hands and ate.
After the meal, Wei Luo did not check the children’s homework. Instead, in front of Yin Hui, he asked his children to stand side by side in front of him.
Xiao Heng and Xiao Xun stood upright, but Xiao Ning thought it was some kind of game and foolishly imitated her brothers with a smile all over her face.
Wei Luo looked at his delicate daughter and began to say to his sons, “When I was young, your grandpa taught me to be strict with myself, not to be extravagant and wasteful in daily life.”
“Before the age of ten, my father’s monthly allowance was five taels, and after the age of ten, it was raised to ten taels.”
“Tell me, is five taels a lot?”
Wei Luo first looked at Xiao Heng.
Just as Xiao Heng was about to speak, Wei Luo said, “Tell the truth, no perfunctory words are allowed.”
Xiao Heng had no choice but to keep his mouth shut, looked at his father after a while and said, “More or less depends on what a person wants to buy. If he only wants to buy a bunch of candied haws, five taels of silver is a lot. If he wants to buy a top-quality inkstone, five taels are pitifully small, far from enough.”
He had already guessed what his father meant and lowered his head in shame.
Wei Luo asked Xiao Xun again.
Xiao Xun looked at his brother, lowered his head and said, “A lot.”
Wei Luo finally asked Xiao Ning.
Xiao Ning imitated her brother and said cutely, “A lot!”
Wei Luo said coldly, “It’s a lot. Jinzhan and Yinzhan are your mother’s maids. They serve day and night for five months. They cannot make mistakes to save enough five taels of silver. The common people outside earn one tael of silver when they harvest all the grain from one mu of land. The common people have to plant it for five years in a row to earn five taels of silver. A string of candy haws sells for two pennies, and the net profit is calculated as one penny. They need to sell five thousand strings of candied haws to earn five taels of silver. Born in the royal family, one is born in rich clothes and fine food, even if they didn’t do anything, they could receive five taels of silver every month, so I think five taels is a lot.”
Xiao Heng and Xiao Xun nodded, while Xiao Ning blinked her eyes and asked, “Then if you want to buy an inkstone, how can five taels be enough?”
Wei Luo looked at his daughter and explained, “When I first started studying, your grandfather prepared enough brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone for me. So he didn’t need to buy any more inkstones.”
Xiao Heng blushed, knelt down, and said, “Father, I know I was wrong.”
Xiao Xun also quickly knelt down.
Only Xiao Ning was still thinking about the inkstone. “Then if you see a better inkstone and like it very much, what do you do?”
Wei Luo replied patiently, “Then I save every month’s salary until I can afford the inkstone.”
Xiao Ning inquired, “Father, why don’t you go to the Emperor Grandfather, who can buy it for you.”
Wei Luo said seriously, “Because the whole world belongs to the Emperor Father, and there are so many people who can’t even eat enough. How can I go to your grandfather for money for my own selfish desire? The Emperor has allowed us to live a better life than ordinary people. The remaining money in his hands should be saved for more important things, such as distributing military salaries to support the soldiers and defending the country, and building embankments to prevent floods from flooding the fields and houses.”
Xiao Ning seemed to understand and suddenly looked at her mother, who had been sitting quietly by the side, “Mother has a lot of money. She will buy it for you.”
Yin Hui’s face turned red immediately, silently reflecting on the times she showed her wealth in front of her daughter.
Although Wei Luo was answering the youngest daughter, he was actually speaking to the two sons who already understood the matter, “First of all, your mother’s money is also saved by her hard work. If it wasn’t for very important things, she would not use it. Secondly, no matter how much money your mother has, if you spend it without restraint, there will always be a day when all the money is spent. What will you do?”
Xiao Ning blinked her eyes, saying, “Great-grandfather also has silver.”
Yin Hui had no ears to listen and couldn’t wait to find a crack in the ground to get in.
Wei Luo replied calmly, “If your great-grandfather wants to keep his money for himself, even if he is willing to give it to you, what will you do when his money is spent?”
Xiao Ning counted all the relatives she knew in the circle. She mentioned her uncles and three aunts, but Wei Luo vetoed them one by one.
Xiao Ning was tired and suddenly sighed, “Then I’ll sell inkstones.”